Bacchus biker club members charged

A Bacchus Motorcycle Club banner is seen in Dartmouth in 2010 during a biker get-together. (STAFF / File)

Police have charged three Nova Scotia members of the Bacchus motorcycle club with uttering threats and intimidation.

According to an RCMP release, the Mounties were investigating allegations that the club members were using intimidation to control their “perceived territory.”

Patrick James, 45, and David Pearce, 38, both of Dartmouth, and Duane Howe, 43, of Grand Desert appeared in Dartmouth provincial court Friday.

On Thursday, RCMP intelligence and drug investigators working jointly with Halifax Regional Police units searched the Bacchus clubhouse on Hogan Road in Nine Mile River and three homes — on Renfrew Road and Elmwood Road in Dartmouth and Dyke Road in Grand Desert.

They seized vests with Bacchus identification, marijuana, steroids, magic mushrooms and a number of computers and cellphones.

RCMP Supt. John Ferguson said the Mounties began looking into the allegations against the three men after receiving a recent complaint.

“It was a very short investigation over several days,” Ferguson said by phone Friday afternoon.

He said he couldn’t reveal any other details, including the nature of the alleged threats or the name of the alleged victim or victims.

“Outlaw motorcycle groups like the Bacchus think they control certain areas of our community and that’s just not the case,” Ferguson said.

“Groups like the Bacchus attempt to portray themselves as simply motorcycle enthusiasts who are unfairly targeted and tainted by the police. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Police say there are 70 to 80 Bacchus members in Atlantic Canada.

“We have nine full-patch members in Nova Scotia,” Ferguson said.

The RCMP maintain that Bacchus, the second-oldest and second-largest outlaw motorcycle gang in Canada, was previously a puppet club of the Hells Angels but is now an independent organization that holds claim to the Atlantic region.